A. Expanding world population with declining average fertility rates. B. The majority of the world's population and the highest fertility rates are in the Third World.
A. Declining fertility rate averages worldwide and in Third World countries.
B. Bangladesh and Kenya fertility rate declines.
C. Literacy and birth control measures.
D. Impact on Consumers and Laborers.
E. Consumers in Third World countries; labor exploitation.
B. Challenges for the future for developed and Third World countries.
The world's population continues to expand. However, it is doing so at a rate that is much slower than predicted by experts a few years ago. The United Nations has lowered is global population projection by one billion for the year 2050 from 9.8 billion to 8.9 billion (Wattenberg 1998). Unfortunately, most of the rapid growth in population that is still occurring is happening in underdeveloped or Third World nations. According to Sieff (1998), almost 98 percent of the annual increase reported in 1997 occurred in the 74 countries that make up the Third World. Further, of the current 6 billion people in the planet, 80 percent of them make their home in the Third World (Sieff, 1998). While global fertility rates are dropping, they are still highest in Thir